Karishma Manzur, PhD
Karishma Manzur (born on January 2, 1974 ), is an American medical research scientist , writer, and nonprofit leader. [1]A progressive, she is running for the Democratic nomination in the 2026 United States Senate Election in New Hampshire. [2] With endorsements[3] from Peace Action, the New Hampshire Peace Action, Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption (Track AIPAC), and Organize for Peace[4][5], Manzur has established herself as the pro-peace candidate who isn’t bought by the war machine.
Early Life, Education, and Work Experience
Karishma Manzur was born on January 2, 1974, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Major General Muhammed Abdul Manzur and Rana Yasmeen Manzur. She has 3 siblings. After her father was assassinated, Karishma and her family were placed under house arrest. Ultimately, Manzur and her family came to America fleeing political persecution; they applied for political asylum in 1994.[6]
| Karishma Manzur, PhD | |
|---|---|
| File:Karishma Manzur.jpgKarishma Manzur.jpg | |
| Born | January 2, 1974 Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 🏳️ Citizenship | American |
| 🏫 Education | University of Rochester(BS) Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai(PhD) |
| 💼 Occupation | Political Candidate
Nonprofit Leader Medical Scientist |
| 🏛️ Political party | Democratic |
| Movement | Progressivism |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Alexander Koch (married 2001-present) |
| 👶 Children | 2 |
| 👴 👵 Parents |
|
| 🌐 Website | https://www.karishmaforsenate.com |
Manzur moved to the U.S. in 1989 and graduated from the Cambridge School of Weston in 1991. After graduating from high school, Manzur enrolled at the University of Rochester. Her studies were interrupted due to financial difficulties, and she graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience in 1998, earring a Distinction in Research Award. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2004 from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a medical school in New York City, United States. The title of her PhD Dissertation was "Structural and Functional Analyses of SET Domain Containing Lysine Methyl Transferases from Viruses, Bacteria, and Archaea."
Nonprofit Work
Karishma Manzur volunteers with a range of progressive groups.
In 2021, Karishma Manzur joined the New Hampshire Peace Action, part of the largest grassroots peace network in the United States, and later she served as a board member.[7] During that time, she organized peace initiatives across New Hampshire for both Peace Action and New Hampshire Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East, educated the public about the human, environmental, and economic costs of a war-driven economy, advocated for a shift in federal spending away from endless military conflict, and urged New Hampshire’s congressional delegation to stop funding the genocide of Palestinians.[8]
Since 2023, she has been volunteering with the New Hampshire Open Democracy. She is currently on the board of Open Democracy Action,[9] holding lawmakers accountable by exposing special-interest influence and tracking and analyzing money in local and state election campaigns. Since 2024, she has been also volunteering with New Hampshire Ranked-Choice Voting. She is a current board member, advocating for Ranked-Choice Voting in New Hampshire local elections.[10]
Community Service
Karishma Manzur has been a regular blood donor for the American Red Cross since 1991.
She was living in New York City as a doctoral candidate during the September 11, 2001 attacks. She volunteered with the American Red Cross.
In June 2024, Manzur supported five peace activists friends who were arrested in Congressman Chris Pappas’s office during a peace sit-in.
In May and June 2024, Karishma Manzur led a group of residents of Exeter, NH, in submitting a Peace Resolution calling for the Exeter Select Board to support an “immediate de-escalation” and “bilateral ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, the release of hostages from both parties, as well as the “immediate entry of humanitarian aid” into Gaza. The group appeared before the Select Board at three consecutive meetings.[11][12][13] The resolution failed with 3 votes against and 2 in favor.[14]
Karishma Manzur was the primary leader of a grassroots effort that added five specific ballot articles to the 2025 Exeter town election (Articles 33,34,35,36,37) [15][16][17] The five articles focused on divesting pension funds from weapons makers lacking safety technology; investigating Pentagon waste, cutting the defense budget, and redirecting funds to Americans; supporting human rights in Israel and Palestine, restricting arms sales to violators, and ensuring aid to Gaza; capping PAC and super PAC contributions at $5,000 in New Hampshire to get Big Money out of politics; and protecting and preserving New Hampshire’s natural resources.[16] All five articles passed with majority support. [18][15]
Manzur believes that “politics is tearing our society apart because elections aren’t working for most of us,” leading to American voters’ frustration with “partisan, toxic politics.”[19] She has been an advocate for Ranked-Choice Voting as an option to elect people based on majority rather than plurality. In February 2025, Manzur testified at hearing of the New Hampshire House Election Law Committee in favor of Ranked-Choice Voting.[19]
On January 27, 2026, Karishma Manzur testified before the New Hampshire House of Representatives in opposition to HB 1704, which would permit public employees to bargain individually with public employers without any intervention.[20] She called for New Hampshire lawmakers to “rebuild union power and restore dignity to working people,” and reminded everyone that “American workers deserve respect, not attempts to weaken their voice at the bargaining table.”[20]
On February 12, 2025, Karishma Manzur, together with other community leaders, delivered a letter[21] to Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator Maggie Hassan's office and later, in March, to Representative Chris Pappas.[22] The letter had 900 signatories, and included seventeen points asking the New Hampshire federal delegation to “use the nation's constitutional, legal, political, ethical, and moral resources to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.” [21] Manzur and the community leaders asked New Hampshire Senators for either a virtual or in-person meeting to discuss their petition. Neither one of the New Hampshire federal delegation responded to the petition.
Manzur is a member of the executive committee of the Rockingham Democratic Committee[23], focused on supporting local towns democratic committees and mobilize voters to elect democratic candidates. [24] She is also a member of the Rules Committee of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
Political Positions
Karishma Manzur’s platform aligns with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
She pledged to run her campaign without any corporate PAC and super PAC money and has stated that “money in politics is one of the greatest threats to our democracy.”[25] Manzur believes that Citizens United should be overturned and that donations from corporate PACs, super PACs, and dark money should not be allowed in politics.
She supports Medicare for All, universal childcare, and funding public education including K-12, community colleges, and public universities, so “every child has access to great schools, safe classrooms, and modern learning tools.”[26]
Manzur is a proponent of increasing minimum wage, strengthening unions, and supporting the middle class. She is a human rights advocate and is against discrimination of “seniors, veterans, women, people with disabilities, people of color, immigrants, Jews, Christians, Muslims, LGBTQ+ individuals, including transgender people, and all others who have been dehumanized.”[25]
Manzur has criticized the Biden administration and the Trump administration for complicity in the genocide of Palestinians[27]. She called out elected officials, including the NH federal delegation, who “enable the starvation and mass murder” in Gaza, and stated that “free flow of humanitarian aid is nonnegotiable.” Manzur is against sending U.S. weapons to “any foreign entity that violates human rights under the federal Leahy Law and Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act.[28]
On September 29, 2025, Manzur attended a Gaza Town Hall in Wilton, NH, organized by NH constituents led by Chris Balch, a former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Both Rep. Chris Pappas and Sen. Maggie Hassan, although invited, declined to participate. Manzur attended a second Gaza town hall on November 13, 2025, in Durham, NH, where she was joined by Lt. Col (ret.) Anthony Aguilar, who shared his “eyewitness testimony of the war crimes at aid distribution sites in Gaza.”[29][30] Both Rep. Chris Pappas and Senator Maggie Hassan were invited again, but denied participation.
Karishma Manzur opposed a potential war in Venezuela, drawing a parallel to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and criticizing decades of US foreign intervention that contributed to the killing of thousands of civilians and led to “environmental devastation, mass displacement, hunger, disease, and [...] millions of refugees".[31][32][33]
Political Campaign
In August 20, 2025, Karishma Manzur launched her campaign for the US Senate seat after Jeanne Shaheen declined to run for reelection.
Manzur said she decided to run because she realized that many of the treatments she was working on as a scientist couldn't be afforded by the American people who “don’t have health insurance or cannot afford the copay.”[34] She emphasized that “[...] people in America are suffering. People in New Hampshire are suffering. The housing crisis is out of control. The childcare crisis is out of control, the health care crisis is out of control, and there's so many other issues.” [34]
An immigrant herself, Manzur stated that “I don’t come from wealth, power, or a famous name, but I’m living proof the American dream is still possible, and still worth fighting for.”[35]
She also said that she is attributing many of the problems America is facing today to “money in politics.”[36] In regards to her campaign, Karishma stated that "This is a grassroots campaign. It's a people's campaign," and won’t take a cent from corporate PACs or lobbyists, including AIPAC.[37]
As pro-peace candidate, Manzur emphasized that “I'm going to stand up for human rights at home and abroad.” [34]
If elected, Karishma Manzur would be the first Muslim woman Senator and first female PhD in science in the history of the United States.[38]
Reactions
News organizations covered Manzur’s announcement and subsequent campaign. NH Journal cited Rep Tony Caplan’s reaction (D-Henniker) to her announcement as recognizing her for “representing ALL the people of New Hampshire, not just the well‑connected and powerful!”[39] The same publication mentions Rep. Suraj Budathoki’s (D-Manchester) comment on Manzur’s pledge to stay away from dark money and remain loyal to the people.[39] Reps. Tony Caplan and Suraj Budathoki published an op-ed in the Union Leader under the title “Why the best candidate for U.S. Senate is Karishma Manzur,” pointing that “In a political climate too often defined by corporate money, empty promises, and manipulated hatred, Manzur is offering honesty, courage, and a dedication to public service instead of profits.”[40]
New Hampshire Public Radio’s article introducing Manzur’ candidacy points out that she’s running because she wants to “restore power to the people.”[35]
Michael Morrill, former director of NH Peace Action, mentioned in his substack article titled “I Saw the Future of New Hampshire and its Name is Karishma Manzur” that Manzur is “not as a campaigner in costume, but as a presence braided into our lives.” [41] He contrasts her to Rep. Chris Pappas, whom he describes as “inertia personified, an emblem of establishment politics,” stating that “She brings with her the unfinished silences of New Hampshire, the textures of neighborhoods where politics is not debate but survival.” [41]
New Hampshire Bulletin coverage of Karishma Manzur’s announcement highlighted that she is a “staunch defender of Palestinian human rights,” and concerned with “struggles of low-income Americans.”[42]
References
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur, Author at New Hampshire Bulletin". New Hampshire Bulletin. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
- ↑ Mitropoulos, Arielle (August 21, 2025). "Exeter scientist launches Democratic run for Senate in NH". WMUR. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur for Senate | Official Campaign Website". Karishma for Senate. Archived from the original on December 18, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Organize For Peace". Organize For Peace. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ↑ Peace, Vote For. "Vote For Peace". Vote For Peace. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ↑ "MANZUR v. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (2007)". FindLaw. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur for Senate | Official Campaign Website". Karishma for Senate. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ↑ "Members Published Letters & OpEd's". New Hampshire Peace Action. February 18, 2026. Archived from the original on February 19, 2026. Retrieved February 13, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Who we are". Open Democracy Action. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved February 13, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "About NH RCV". NH Ranked Choice Voting. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ↑ Select Board - 05/13/24. Retrieved February 14, 2026 – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ Select Board - 05/28/24. Retrieved February 14, 2026 – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ Select Board - 06/10/24. Retrieved February 14, 2026 – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ Hisham, Aqeel (June 13, 2024). "Seacoast Online".
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Election Results". Vexed Citizens. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Absentee Official Ballot Annual Town Election Exeter, New Hampshire, March 11, 2025" (PDF). Town of Exeter, New Hampshire - Government website. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Select Board Meeting" (PDF). Exeter New Hampshire Government. February 18, 2025.
- ↑ "Exeter Voted to Protect People and Our Planet" (PDF).
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 NH House of Representatives Committee Streaming (February 25, 2025). House Election Law (02/25/2024). Archived from the original on March 3, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026 – via YouTube. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 20.0 20.1 NH House of Representatives Committee Streaming (January 27, 2026). House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services (01/27/2026). Retrieved February 14, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "2/12/25: Letter to NH Senators". Google Docs. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ↑ PhD, Karishma Manzur (February 25, 2025). "A letter to Senators Shaheen and Hassan signed by over 900 Granite Staters!". Vexed Citizens (protecting people and planet). Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Executive Committee". Rockingham County Dems. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Who we are". Rockingham County Dems. Archived from the original on July 6, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Karishma Manzur for Senate | Official Campaign Website". Karishma for Senate. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur for Senate | Official Campaign Website". Karishma for Senate. Archived from the original on February 19, 2026. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ PhD, Karishma Manzur (2025-02-11). "Rules-based order should prevail in the U.S., Israel, and Palestine". Vexed Citizens (protecting people and planet). Retrieved 2026-03-24.
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur - current election campaign | Citizens Count". www.citizenscount.org. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ Schinella, Tony; src="https://patch.com/img/cdn/assets/layout/badges/verified-patch-staff.svg"/>, Patch Staff<img alt="Verified Patch Staff Badge" class="styles_Badge__np_hU" (November 12, 2025). "Senate Candidate, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Host Town Hall About Gaza In Durham". Exeter, NH Patch. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur for Senate | Official Campaign Website". Karishma for Senate. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur: Let's not have a repeat of Iraq debacle in Venezuela". UnionLeader.com. December 10, 2025. Archived from the original on December 15, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Karishma Manzur, Author at Concord Monitor". Concord Monitor. December 15, 2025. Archived from the original on December 23, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Members Published Letters & OpEd's". New Hampshire Peace Action. February 23, 2026. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Mitropoulos, Arielle (August 21, 2025). "Exeter scientist launches Democratic run for Senate in NH". WMUR. Archived from the original on September 21, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 35.0 35.1 Bookman, Todd (August 20, 2025). "Karishma Manzur enters NH Senate race, joining Pappas in Democratic primary". New Hampshire Public Radio. Archived from the original on February 9, 2026. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Bookman, Todd (August 20, 2025). "Karishma Manzur enters NH Senate race, joining Pappas in Democratic primary". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Karishma Manzur for Senate | Official Campaign Website". Karishma for Senate. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "10 Questions with Karishma Manzur, Pappas' challenger in the Democratic Senate primaries - Manchester Ink Link". September 3, 2025. Archived from the original on September 21, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 39.0 39.1 Graham, Michael (August 17, 2025). "Progressive Manzur To Challenge Pappas in Dem Senate Primary". NH Journal. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Reps. Suraj Budathoki & Tony Caplan: Why the best candidate for U.S. Senate is Karishma Manzur". UnionLeader.com. September 30, 2025. Archived from the original on September 30, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 41.0 41.1 Morrill, Michael "Lefty" (August 21, 2025). "I saw the future of New Hampshire and its name is Karishma Manzur". Michael "Lefty" Morrill. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ Skipworth, William (August 22, 2025). "Innis and Manzur enter New Hampshire's U.S. Senate race, creating two competitive primaries • New Hampshire Bulletin". New Hampshire Bulletin. Archived from the original on October 23, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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